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Four items signed by George R. Caron, tail gunner of the Enola Gay, highlighted by two ALSs discussing the Hiroshima mission and his years as a B-29 flight test gunner alongside Paul Tibbets:
The first ALS, one page both sides, 8.5 x 11, July 24, 1990. Handwritten letter to "Joe," penned around a printed image of a gun mount. In part: "Right before I enlisted in 1942 I helped design it for the W. L. Maxson Corp…I also worked on the design of aircraft turrets so where did I get assigned after basic—in the Troop Carriers. I wanted to fly in planes, not jump out of them. I pestered the hell out of the C.O. until I got into power turret school…After that I got on the flight test crew of the XB-29 & YB-29's with Col. Tibbets…Have over 2000 hrs in B-29's. Those early ones were real bitches—hardly ever landed with all 4 engines running…The Enola Gay was a stripped down airplane—removed all the turrets except the Tail and also the armor plate. That's why I ended up in the tail on my missions over Japan.”
The second ALS, one page, 8.5 x 11, no date. Handwritten draft of his recollection of the Hiroshima mission, addressed "Dear (Al, Sam, Jim, Bob, Tony)," headed "George Caron letterhead" and "various dates all 1985," and followed by five alternate closing lines, introduced "last line changes to each letter." In part: "I was the tail gunner of the Enola Gay which dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945…About 45 seconds later the first shock-wave and blinding light hit the plane and made me temporarily blind, then another shock-wave [hit] the Enola Gay; I thought Tibbets was going to lose control, but he didn't. I was the only one facing Hiroshima and I saw a gray mushroom cloud rising up and the ground below looked on fire…I shall never forget this bombing which led to the Japanese surrender a few days later." Among the alternate closings: "I remember it now as if it happened yesterday" and "in my dreams I sometimes relive the entire mission.”
The other two items: a softcover copy of his eyewitness account, Hiroshima: I Saw It First, 1993, 8.5 x 11, 39 pages, signed on the first page in blue ballpoint, "George R. Caron"; and a printed sheet headed "The Atomic Bomb, Hiroshima," 8.5 x 11, recounting how he took the first photographs of the blast, signed at the top in ballpoint, "George R. Caron, Hiroshima 8/6/45." In overall fine condition.
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